Clubs

Son earns exemption from military service as South Korea win Asian Games

Tottenham forward Son Heung-min can expect to win exemption from full military service for South Korea after his countrymen triumphed 2-1 in the football final of the Asian Games.

South Korean law requires all able-bodied men to complete almost two years of service in the nation’s army, navy or air force and Son, 26, and his team-mates knew their only chance of avoiding duty under the current conscription regulations was to win gold in West Java, Indonesia.

The quest for glory – and in Son’s case the freedom to fulfil his five-year contract at Spurs – was arduous as Japan’s under-23 side, who had kept four clean sheets on their way to the final, held firm for 90 minutes, even scaring South Korea with solid efforts from Kota Watanabe and Yuto Iwasaki.

But South Korea were the dominant side, with tournament top-scorer Hwang Ui-jo spurning several golden chances as Son regularly tormented Japan down the left.

The dam finally broke a few minutes into extra-time as substitute Lee Seung-woo of Hellas Verona collected a pass from Son and rocketed the ball into the top corner. It was 2-0 when Son won a free-kick before floating it over to Hwang Hee-chan, who headed home.

Clubs

Southgate warns England caps won't be handed out easily anymore

Gareth Southgate has warned England’s young pretenders there will be no more easy caps.

The Three Lions boss has resisted any temptation to call up a raft of youngsters and has stuck with experience in his first squad following the World Cup.

Phil Foden, Jadon Sancho and Ryan Sessegnon had all been linked with a senior call-up but were not considered by Southgate for the Nations League game against Spain and friendly with Switzerland next month.

Sancho has impressed for Borussia Dortmund, Sessegnon has started three of Fulham’s four games since winning promotion while Foden is highly regarded at Manchester City but has played just eight minutes in the league this season.

It is considered too soon for the trio and Southgate insisted they will have to prove their worth to crack his squad.

He said: “It should be harder. It’s been too easy to get into the England squad for some of the youngsters over the over the last 12, 24, and 36 months.

“They’ve gone in and done brilliantly, but what you want is real competition that makes it really hard to get in. It’s very difficult to pick a 17-year-old who’s had 10 minutes of first-team football.

“What have they done to warrant an England senior call-up? We’re as excited by them as anyone else, but given the profile of some of those lads at the moment we’ve got to be really careful.

“I think those guys have got a good mentality and can cope with most things, but there are issues. How much are they going to play for their clubs? So if I’m going to elevate them internationally I have to ask is that realistic?

“The comparison is Spain. We’re going to be playing Spain who have to replace David Silva and (Andres) Iniesta, and the questions are: is it Koke, (Cesc) Fabregas, Saul or Thiago Alcantara?

“It depends how good we want to be and what level we want to challenge at, but that’s a clear indication of the task we’ve got.”